


Just A Broken Doll

by ProPinkist



Category: RWBY
Genre: 3x09 spoilers, Angst, Friendship, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, adding onto the pool of tears after episode 9, how dare you kill my baby girl so horribly RT, neither she nor Ruby deserve that ;w;
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-20
Updated: 2016-01-20
Packaged: 2018-05-15 05:25:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,062
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5772994
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ProPinkist/pseuds/ProPinkist
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Penny was merely a shadow, a horrifying memory soon to be forgotten, in the eyes of the rest of Vale, and even in those of the ones who made her.</p>
<p>And that, Ruby thought, is what makes it all so, so sad.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Just A Broken Doll

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first RWBY fic, so of course I would make it an angst fic based off of the most tragic event in the show so far. A few other people have feels-dumped, so I decided to do the same, since I've been crying so much. ;w; ...Although Penny can easily be given a new body, the big question is if her memories and personality will still be intact, and that's up in the air at this point. There's also a big possibility that Cinder will remake her to her liking to use against Ruby, since she has all of Penny's schematics via Ironwood's scroll, and just... no. ;w; We'll just have to hope for the best, hope our precious girl is saved in the end. ;_;
> 
> ...Which is why, because I /am/ trying to be hopeful, I wrote a fic where Penny is not saved. Go figure. ...I'll probably try to do something cutesy with them later though to make up for it. Feedback is appreciated as always; I had to guess as to who else is most likely to be offed in my opinion (Ozpin and maybe Qrow are high on my list as well, but let's not mention them shhh), and Ruby is probably a bit ooc... it's impossible to know how she's going to come out of all this. :(

Ruby stared down at the small gravestone in front of her atop the hill.

It was crude and easy to miss, not at all like her mother’s large, grand polished one with her symbol engraved on it. …But it was the best she could do, after saving up money from taking on odd jobs here and there. She had planted lots of flowers around it, though, orange and pink ones, which gave it a sense of color and warmth. And it was a fairly standard grave for a normal citizen who wasn’t as famous as the great Summer Rose had been.

But Ruby couldn’t help but want more. She knew the simplicity of it fit the person it was made for… but they deserved something bigger. Something that people would notice. Something that said _look, this person existed, they made their mark on the world, they were **alive**_.

There wasn’t even a body buried under the ground to prove that they were “here” in the most literal sense.

Pushing those thoughts aside with a sigh, Ruby crouched down and read the inscription on the stone silently, before speaking.

“Hey, Penny.”

She always talked to her mother like this, and so she continued to do so here. She didn’t care how silly it sounded, talking to thin air when no one could actually hear her. It made her feel better, and just felt like the natural and respectful thing to do in her eyes.

“I’m sorry this took so long to arrange; things were just… crazy.” Ruby wet her lips, thinking about how much of an understatement “crazy” was. In reality, that tournament fight had been so long ago… and yet it was still so vivid in her mind (along with other things) that it felt like it was just yesterday.

“…Cinder and her group have been brought to justice. I-It wasn’t without losses, but we did it in the end. The White Fang has been subdued as well…” She spoke hoarsely, suddenly feeling the need to put her hands on the ground in front of her to steady herself, as if out of energy. “…I-I did it… I avenged you… Penny…” The words rang hollow in her ears, though, as she knew they did.

_“Penny… is that you… PENNY!!! H-How did you get here, who fixed you?! I… I never thought I’d see you again! …But you should get out of here as soon as possible, it’s not safe here!!”_

_She couldn’t explain the feeling that coursed through her when the robotic girl in front of her did not reciprocate Ruby’s hug, but instead pushed her away with enough force to knock her flat on her back, and took up a battle stance._

_“…P-Penny…?”_

Ruby flinched, trying desperately not to let her mind wander back there, and squeezing her eyes shut so tightly it hurt. She promised herself she wouldn’t cry here, anywhere but here. …But it was so _hard_ not to.

“…E-Everything has settled down now, as much as it can anyway,” she continued weakly. “…We still go to school, though the combat side of things has been put on hold indefinitely, of course… Blake lost her old partner from the White Fang, but I think she has begun to move on. Sun and Neptune are there to help her, as well as us.” Her voice wavered. “…Y-Yang is still upset about her mother, Raven... she's so upset. It hurts me to see her like this, Penny. …Qrow is there for her, as well as our father… but I wish I could be too, b-but I just don’t know how to help her.” A few tears finally escaped from Ruby’s eyes, and she attempted to wipe them away. She was about to bring up Pyrrha next, but decided not to, her throat constricting.

“…And General Ironwood and the one you called your f-father improved on their synthetic army. …None of them use your swords anyway, but they were built to withstand much more than they could before; I-Ironwood said he wouldn’t be making such a mistake in design again; not with m-magnets, nor anything else…”

Ruby was openly crying now, and she hated herself for it. She had wanted so badly to come here and “tell” her friend as proudly as was possible that good had triumphed over evil, that they had won, that karma had given Cinder and company what they deserved for what they did to her and so many others.

But she was foolish, so foolish, to think that things could end so smoothly. If she was being technical, than yes, they _had_ been captured. But Ruby didn’t feel any sense of satisfaction from it. She knew deep down that she could never bring herself to kill any of their enemies even if she was allowed to… but even doing _that_ wouldn’t have brought her satisfaction, she suspected. She hated them so, _so_ much, for posing as students and fooling them all right under their noses, for hurting innocent people to bring about their master plan, for making this year the worst of her life… for orchestrating Penny’s “death”, and then using her against them afterward, as if the former wasn’t bad enough.

Ruby hated them, and yet no outcome that involved them being shut down would have brought her solace. And she had been _counting_ on that, she so _desperately_ needed that sense of resolution, of peace, of closure.

But now she just felt tired. She went to school every day, and yet her enthusiasm and energy were gone. She saw how everyone else looked at her with pity, and she couldn’t stand it. _“Poor Ruby_ ”, their faces seemed to say. _“She was too young to handle any of this, and now it’s taken its toll on her.”_ Ruby cried to herself when she knew no one else was around, because everyone else had lost loved ones as well, and it wasn’t right that they should act like she bared a heavier loss than they did. It hurt, to see them hide their own pain for the sake of comforting her. Blake’s sad look of nostalgia sometimes when they went on hikes outside. Yang’s moments of holding Zwei to her chest and crying her heart out. Previously, and probably one of the worst of all, Pyrrha’s breakdown that night after some sense of calm returned, and her continued panic attacks even now. All of them were hurting just as much as she was, and no less. But they didn’t want her to have to see it. …But Ruby _also_ couldn’t fake being happy to avoid this treatment from them, because everyone saw right through her anyway. It just… never ended.

Deep down, she knew that getting revenge on Cinder wasn’t what she wanted most of all. Sure, it was part of it… but it wasn’t all of it.

“Penny, I-I’m sorry. I’m _sorry_!!!” Ruby stammered, sobs wracking her body. “I tried, I tried _so_ hard to get them to help you, to fix you. …I-I’m no expert at all, but I thought if anyone could do it, your creators could, of course, right? They had to have had spare parts for you, in case you ever got hurt like this… But they said no. They said that even if they could rebuild you, your memory would be gone. You wouldn’t be you anymore. Wouldn’t be… the P-Penny I knew…”

Her voice cracked. “…But even if you didn’t remember me anymore, there would be a chance you could make new memories, right? All I wanted was for you to be able to live again.” She cried harder at her next words. “…And you did, alright. But it was by _them_. _They_ remade you, raised you in their twisted way. So that I had to _fight you_ … and destroy you. Again. …Except permanently this time. I-It hurt so much to have to see you like that, Penny… you only followed your orders from Cinder; in a way, that was the most inhumane I’ve ever seen you. …That wasn’t _living_ ,” she whispered, her voice dull. “…That was merely existing.”

Ruby squeezed the grass under her fists, staring at the name on the gravestone that deserved to be there the least of all out of everyone she had ever known. “…Penny…” she whispered. “…They could have brought you back to life before Cinder got your core functions first, I know. …But they didn’t. They ignored my pleas, my cries, my _begging_. …There was a crisis going on at the time, of course. But this had nothing to do with that. None of them placated me with “we’ll try our best later” or “we’ll see what we can do”. I would have been fine with even just a _sign_ that they were saddened by what happened to you. By how horrifically you were murdered right in front of my eyes, by Emerald, not Pyrrha.”

She spoke bitterly, the true reason for her sadness exposed. “No one cared, Penny. Absolutely no one. Ironwood and his men only saw you as a failed prototype that could be improved in later models; no need to fix the old one. To the people who were watching the tournament, you went from being a person to an object that was masquerading as a person. Even my teammates and other friends were shocked and confused to find out your secret, I could tell. You were so scared to first tell me you weren’t human, Penny… now I finally see why. …Anyone who isn’t human, other humans pay no mind to. Faunus, synthetic people, none of them matter. T-They acted like you didn’t even _exist!!!_ ”

Ruby let out yet another sob, her heart aching. Penny was one of the most down to earth and innocent people she had ever met, the only one she could truly call her friend outside of her classmates. She may have been a bit socially awkward, but Ruby could relate to that, and it didn’t matter in the slightest. All Penny truly wanted was to live her life like a normal girl, and someone who loved her for who she was. But Ruby was the only one she had; apparently not even her father, who Penny had talked so much about, could be bothered to make the effort for her when it was all said and done. Why didn’t anyone else understand? Why couldn’t anyone else see, even just from the excited way Penny acted before the devastating fight with Pyrrha, that the girl who lay broken and dead on the floor of the stadium… was _human_?

She should have spent more time with her. Ruby would have, if she had known this was going to happen. She would have taken Penny to every fun place in the kingdom, teach her the ways of the world, let her be the normal girl she wanted to be. Restrictions be damned. …More than anything, she wished she _had_. She could still hear Penny’s sweet, joyful voice in her mind even now:

_“Sal-u-tations, Ruby my friend!”_

Ruby smiled a tiny, sad smile despite herself, rubbing her fingers slowly over the petals of one of the flowers in front of her.

“Penny,” she began, softly but resolutely. “We didn’t have much time together, but I hope you understood how much you meant to me. …I’m sorry I failed you, but I hope I was at least somewhat of a good friend. …I couldn’t save you, but I won’t let your memory die. You deserved to live, but at the very least, I’ll make sure that everyone knows that strong, kind, and brave Penny Polendina _was_ alive, even if only for a fleeting time. …And if they ever decide to make people with nuts and bolts like you again, I’ll make sure everyone recognizes that they are human. I’ll love them all just as much as I did you. I’m sure Blake would understand and feel the same way as well. …It’s the least I can do for you.”

Ruby stood up, wiping her tears gently. She read the name again for the hundredth time, "PENNY POLENDINA", and held the image of her in her mind.

“Thanks for everything, Penny. I’m glad I knew you… I only wish you could have had more time.

“Your heart and soul were always there, always real… just like I knew they were.”


End file.
